FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Craig Stevens (202) 225-3671

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon (Florida 15) serves as Vice Chairman
of the Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.

Rep. Weldon made the following statement after learning that NASA
Administrator Dan Goldin had announced that NASA would begin construction on
the Interim Control Module (ICM) for the International Space Station (ISS):

I think that it is high time that NASA finally woke up and decided that the
Russians were not going to come through on the Service Module for the
International Space Station. This decision to go on is certainly a step in
the right direction.

Naturally, I will look closely at the plan that Administrator Goldin will
lay out to get us to the point where we can launch the ICM. I hope that
they stay to the scheduled December 2000 launch.

I regret that two years and hundreds of millions of dollars have been
squandered because of the White House’s decision to put the Russians in the
critical path for ISS. But with this decision, we can go on without them
and get the job done.

# # #